Troy Baker elected the next president of CHSAA’s Board of Directors

AURORA — Troy Baker, athletic director at Buena Vista High School, has been elected as the next president of CHSAA’s Board of Directors.

Baker will be introduced to the Legislative Council as president during the meeting in April. He will be the Association’s 62nd president, succeeding Pine Creek’s Jim Lucas.

Baker’s two-year term will cover the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years, which includes the year that Colorado will be hosting the NFHS Summer Meeting. He will begin his role as president in July 2019.

“It’s hard to put into words what it means to me, especially in my short career, how great of an opportunity it is to be a part of the CHSAA, and the staff, and the Board,” Baker said. “I learn so much from everybody I get to work with and value the relationships made statewide. It makes me a better person and I value it as one of the avenues of my on-going professional growth.”

Among his goals as president is to “continue to have relationships evolve, and to meet people and engage in conversation about how we can continue to best serve our membership, and our students.”

“I’m just honored to still be a part of the team,” Baker added. “I’ve got an appreciation and excitement to continue to be able to serve.”

Asked about continuing to work on the state-wide level, Baker said: “There is so much to our unique state — geography, school size. Our schools and communities may be uniquely different in ways and facing different challenges, but ultimately we all have the same purpose. We must continue to see the big picture.

“As a member of the Board, you hear of the statewide challenges. It, too, is the multiple CHSAA committees and staff that engage in listening and working together to bring equity to the association’s activities.”

Baker mentioned that he also would like to continue to support the joint efforts of the CHSAA and CADA in minimizing the turnover of athletic directors around the state.

“It is a demanding job, but one that can be very fulfilling,” Baker said. “It is important to build relationships, lean on others at times, ask questions, and get involved in our state association. We are all in this together.”

Baker currently represents District 7 on the Board, and has since 2015. He will be CHSAA’s first president from Buena Vista.

He started his career in athletics and education as a middle school coach at Mountain Valley in the 1990s. While there, he also served on the school board. He became a representative on the Board of Control (now known as the Legislative Council) in 2003.

Baker and his family moved to Buena Vista in 2005, where he immediately began coaching freshman basketball.

“I always loved being at the freshman level. It’s a great honor to be in a position like that that I think sometimes doesn’t get enough credit,” Baker said. “You’re really instrumental in teaching them the fundamentals, and preparing them for the next level.”

Baker eventually became the school’s JV golf coach, and later the varsity coach. In 2014, he was hired as Buena Vista’s athletic director.

“I really miss coaching, but have gained a bigger appreciation and respect for the great work our coaches do,” Baker said. “I am also grateful for the important role that our game officials play.”

He joined the CHSAA Board of Directors in 2015. Baker is also an active member of the Colorado Athletic Directors Association (CADA) and the NIAAA.

“I greatly value the CADA and what they provide for professional development and support of the state athletic directors, and really the NIAAA, too, in having taken several of their classes that have been very valuable,” Baker said.

Baker is currently a member of CHSAA’s football committee, and he has also served as co-clinic director for the Colorado High School Coaches Association, and also as that association’s golf president.

CHSAA’s Board of Directors, formerly known as the Executive Committee, has been around in some form since the Association was created in 1921.